Will the new owners of Icon on Bond convert the property back to condominiums?

Icon on Bond, at 538 Bond Avenue NW, has a new owner.Jim Harger | Mlive Media Group

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – Icon on Bond, one of downtown’s largest apartment buildings with 118 units, has a new owner who may convert the property back to condominiums.

Time Equities Inc., one of the nation’s largest property owners with more than 18 million square feet of residential, retail, hotel, industrial and parking garage properties, recently purchased the 9-story building for $17 million, according to city records.

The building, which is fully rented, began as a luxury condominium project when it was built in 2007 on the site of an abandoned foundry north of the Gerald R. Ford Freeway.

But few units sold and the building went into receivership two years later after developer Joseph Moch allegedly defaulted on his construction loans and was sued by New York-based lender Amalgamated Bank.

Time Equities closed on its acquisition out of receivership last month. The company also purchased 601 Bond Avenue NW, a vacant lot which Moch had slated for Phase 2 of the project.

Whether Time Equities plans to convert the building back to condominiums is unclear.

Time Equities' web site lists the property as “Residential Sales” rather than “Rental,” its designation for apartments.

City Economic Development Director Kara Wood said the new owners have said they plan to continue renting apartments. "However, they did indicate that they are flexible and could sell condominiums if the market moved that way," she said.

An official with Time Equities who is familiar with the property declined to comment.

Currently, the one and two-bedroom apartments in the building rent for $1,075 to $1,845 a month, according to www.apartmentguide.com. The property is fully rented, according to an employee at the building manager’s office.